Mr. Fiffick called the Cleveland/Northeast Ohio area “a very small market, but it's a very niche market because those clients are very, very in tune with their vehicles, what is needed to take care of them and very finicky on who touches their vehicles. It's almost like a little cult. They ask lots of questions, they know everything about what you're talking about so you have to talk the talk and walk the walk to be able to deal with them….
“I think we're in at the ground floor and we're going to continue to grow the market as fast as the market will grow.”
Rad Air has been servicing hybrid vehicles for years but up to this point has generated business through word of mouth.
Now under the Cleveland Hybrid division, the company is marketing directly to hybrid owners.
“I purchased a list of all registered hybrid owners in the state, and (to) all the ones in Northeast Ohio we are sending a monthly mailer and we have a Cleveland Hybrid website,” Mr. Fiffick said.
“It has been paying dividends. We're doing twice as many hybrids now than we did just six months ago. So the word is spreading. But again it's a very small market.
“The neat part is, if we get the hybrid vehicle in the client's home into our shop, they get to know us, they see who we are and they get to like us—and then we get the rest of the family's other vehicles. So the hybrid may be a gateway to gaining new clients that we don't have now.”
The next phase for the Cleveland Hybrid operation is to install public EV charging stations within the next six months outside every Rad Air location, he said.
The biggest challenge for the dealership was the fear factor of the technicians, Mr. Fiffick acknowledged.
“You hear so much negativity that you could basically get killed or really injured working on a hybrid…. They came in with that fear and now the fear is subsided once you learn the technology and you know how to work on it.”
The dealership noted that its new division “seeks to provide the fast, friendly, community-based service” and clients “can expect honest advice, no pushy sales tactics, free loaner vehicles and an excellent warranty.”
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To reach this reporter: [email protected]; 330-865-6127. Twitter — @kmcarr
